* A couple weeks ago we reported that Carnival Legend, on its way back to New York from the Caribbean, made a detour of hundreds of miles to Bermuda due to a medical emergency. But it was back to Bermuda again on last week’s sailing. This time it due to a malfunction in the ship’s propulsion system.

The ship left New York on Wednesday evening (August 11) with the trouble developing during the night. It was traced to an electrical component involving an electric motor inside one of the Azipod units. The only way to fix the problem was to go into the Azipod to repair the motor.

In case you don't remember what an Azipod unit is from past articles, they are the units that hang under the ship with the propellers on them which replace the rudders. These can turn, like outboard motors, and propel the ship in different directions; that's how ships equipped with Azipods (which is a brand name) are steered.

To climb down into the Azipod unit while the ship is moving is foolhardy if not downright life-threatening; the ship needed to be tied up to make the repair. After lots of consultation between the ship and Miami, since the ship could sail only very slowly without the repair, it was decided that the most logical place to dock would be at Bermuda, which was not too far to sail at that speed, and it would offer the most for the passengers to do during the days it would take to make the repair.

The passengers were given $150 per person onboard credit for the inconvenience. (Carnival's customer service department is considering requests for additional compensation - in future cruise credits - on a case-by-case basis.)

During the two-day stay in Bermuda (most) passengers enjoyed themselves ashore while the engineers worked on the errant motor. It was repaired in time for the planned Monday afternoon departure, and Carnival Legend arrived back in New York on time Thursday morning. It's just didn’t come back from where anyone expected it to be.

Excerpted from the full article which was carried in the August 17, 2004 edition of Cruise News Daily.

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